Detective Goren matches wits and moves with a paranoid but murderous chess grandmaster after a newly engaged woman is found slain and tossed in a garbage bin -- but Goren believes the killing might be a case of mistaken identity and finds links to a wealthy family and a pimp. Edging closer, Goren and Detective Eames study the passenger manifest on the victim's recent flight and they discover the curious zig-zag path of one disturbed man who is later discovered to be a famous chess prodigy-turned-fugitive now intent on blackmailing his family for money.